Maternity Services

The MAI – together with Midwives for Choice – have submitted a position statement to the Joint Oireachtas Health Committee on the Termination of Pregnancy Bill on October 25th. The statement can be downloaded here.

At the time of Savita Halappanavar’s death in 2012, then Minister for Health James Reilly declared that despite the tragedy, our maternity services were amongst ‘the best and safest’ in the world. When the HIQA report on the issues surrounding Savita’s death was issued in 2013, the Minister said the report was ‘very disturbing’ and that our maternity services needed a new national plan which would be pursued ‘with urgency’.

Statement from The Irish Midwives Association on the lifting of In-Camera status in the case of Mother B vs HSE heard in the High Court, Dublin on 30th September 2016

The Irish Midwives Association fully supports the right of all pregnant people to informed consent, informed refusal and full bodily autonomy.

Dublin, November 2, 2016: The Irish Midwives Association (IMA) were deeply concerned to learn of the case of Mother B vs HSE, in which the HSE attempted to force a woman to have a caesarean section against her will. The IMA welcomes Justice Michael Twomey’s ruling that a forced surgical procedure would constitute a “grievous assault.” The IMA further support his ruling to lift the in-camera status as requested by the mother and are concerned that the HSE objected to her waiving anonymity.